Cedar-Java has policy injection, type confusion, and incorrect equality comparison vulnerabilitiesGHSA-4r9r-4425-74p7
HIGHGHSA-4r9r-4425-74p7 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Code Injection vulnerability in com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java. A fix is available for com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-4r9r-4425-74p7.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-4r9r-4425-74p7 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 388,997 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java☕com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java☕com.cedarpolicy:cedar-javaReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
CedarJava is an open source Java implementation of the Cedar policy language, used for fine-grained authorization decisions. Under certain circumstances, it could lead to incorrect equality comparisons.
Impact
EntityIdentifier.equals() has inverted null/self branches
The EntityIdentifier.equals() method has inverted logic for null and self-reference checks, returning true for null comparisons and false for self-comparisons. This does not affect Cedar authorization decisions (computed in Rust from JSON), but could affect integrators who perform their own equality checks on entity identifiers.
Impacted versions:
< 4.9
Patches
It has been addressed in CedarJava version 4.9 and above. We recommend upgrading to the latest version and ensuring any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes.
Workarounds
Avoid relying on EntityIdentifier.equals() for security-sensitive comparisons until upgraded to version 4.9.
References
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, Cedar asks that you contact us directly via email to [email protected]. Please do not create a public GitHub issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java | all versions | 2.3.6com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java:2.3.6 |
| ☕Maven | com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java | ≥ 3.1.2&&< 3.4.1 | 3.4.1com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java:3.4.1 |
| ☕Maven | com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java | ≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.9.0 | 4.9.0com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java:4.9.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.cedarpolicy:cedar-java to 2.3.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-4r9r-4425-74p7 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-4r9r-4425-74p7 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.